First live, pubic performance.

jbone · Veteran Member

RE: First live, pubic performance.

RedRooster · Member

How long had you been playing before going public -- specifically playing harp, but, music in general too?

Rick

jpmcbride · Senior Member

jbone,

Excellent post. I second everything you said. I'm not really adding much here, but just to emphasize how correct you are...

You will improve by orders of magnitude as soon as you start playing live in front of audiences. There is nothing like the fear of public humiliation to motivate you to practice and improve :-)

Anyone can do it. Find a guitar playing friend and start working out some songs.

Many small coffee houses and similar places will let you play if you just ask. Expect to play for free when you are starting - tips only. Here's some free advice, take it for what its worth :-) Act professional at all times when playing live. Even if you just started, no one has to know that. Talk to the audience if appropriate for the venue, make your sound check short and professional as possible, don't keep asking the audience if they can hear you, don't fiddle with the mic too much ... you get the picture. Make it look like you been doing it for years.

You will learn a lot of things playing live that you would never learn otherwise. Like how to recover from a major screw up - it will happen and you gotta learn how to deal with it. How to play when you're nervous. How to keep your composure when the sound is too loud, when you can't hear yourself playing, when the equipment breaks down, etc...

As far as equipment goes, in my duo we have a PA, but lately we've been using a pair of 2-channel accoustic amps. We each have a guitar and a vocal mic. Simple and easy to setup.

jbone, I'm with you on the percussion thing. At home I play a high-hat stand while playing guitar or harp, and sometimes I play a tambourine or shaker with one hand and harp with the other. It is MUCH harder than it appears and I'm not ready to take it live yet. I discovered that much of my harp playing is around the beat rather than right on it. When playing percussion and harp, I'll tend to lose the rhythm when soloing on the harp, or my harp playing will conform itself to the straight rhythm and sound boring. I'm working on it though!

Congrats on you great gigs this past weekend.

Jim

jbone · Veteran Member

speaking of firsts, i had a couple myself this weekend. friday evening, my wife JOLENE and i played our first complete set for an audience at a coffee house. she has been busy this past 6 months learning blues guitar and vocals. we did about 10 songs to maybe 15 people, used he new/used peavey ecoustic amp for her guitar and vocals, while i blew harp and sang through my silvertone 1482. (which is a pretty good harp amp and not bad for vocals also if one uses a crystal element mic, or an sm58 with a hi to lo z transformer).
after we did our set, my bud brian from texas finally arrived, and he and i did a second set as a duo, which was our inaugural set that way. we've had several 4 piece projects over 12-plus years and decided a few months back to try out a leaner format.

then saturday night we did a full 3 or 4 set night at a local club here, and we guested JOLENE in on about half a set worth also. full p.a. along with amps for instruments and we also tried out some wood stomp boxes i had made up with 2x2's and thin plywood for tops. this was to provide a very basic rhythm, and for me it was hard to keep time and play improv on harp. not impossible but i need to work on it!!

starting saturday morning it rained. and rained. and rained. this made the 15 mile drive to PARROT BEACH CAFE an ordeal, but once we were on the road i was determined to get there and play, even if it was to the owner herself. which fortunately some 15 to 20 patrons did show up. this was our second gig where rain had a big effect on the turnout. third time's a charm and we're on the calendar for late february!!
both gigs went very well musically. brian and i have plenty of stage experience, a lot of it initially on jam stages around north texas along with many weekend afternoon living room sessions. we had some rough moments getting brian's martin guitar to sound deep and full enough, and he's decided to get a big hollowbody or a jumbo body to fill out his acoustic sound. yesterday we took a hard look at a lot of the material we do with a rhythm section and put together 5 sets of material for the acoustic duo. more than i had thought we knew!

i can't stress enough how important it is to go "real time" at some point and get out and play live whenever the opportunity presents. that's when i began to face some real challenges and that's when i made real progress. it's possible that, in your area, there is a coffee house or s,mall restaurant or club that either has an open mic night now, or would be open to having live music. we're about to talk to a lot of people here to find some smaller venues like that so both JAWBONE and JOLENE, and DELTA MUDD ACOUSTIC DUO can get out and play.
for a duo, equipment can be fairly minimal. no amps at all or small amps will suffice for smaller rooms. a modular p.a. could be a good option also, if the guitar is run through an eq or effects pedal to warm the tone up. and blowing harp through a p.a., while sometimes a challenge, is also a great way to develop better chops and more "tricks of the trade".
this has been a landmark weekend for me. and i wanted to stress, it's very possible for ANYone if they are determined and keep an open mind.

jbone · Veteran Member

haw!! that's one of my favorite tricks, close my eyes and just ride the music and play with it. less distraction.

one thing i learned a while back is, every p.a. mic is set different. i approach them with a bit of caution but also with confidence. sometimes i have to keep 6 inches of air between the harp and mic, other times i nearly eat it while singing, and keep the harp almost touching the mic to get the best volume and tone.

you newer guys are who i can give some of what i've got to. it's a big reason i hang out at joints like this. while i am not near the teacher jon is (and thank you jon!) i still feel the need to encourage new guys like i have been encouraged over the years.

carry on gentlemen!!

vbmark · Member

There was a microphone but I don't know if that is considered "amplified" in the harmonica sense.

No, I did not have an opportunity to be on stage first. Now that you mention it that might have helped a little.

It was kind of overwhelming when I first got up there. I felt like I was way up in the air with all these people staring at me.

I played through almost the whole thing with my eyes closed. I need to work on that.

Harp Hack · Member

VB,
The support from your family is great. Nothing better than loved ones encouragement. And now you have the encouragement of a seasoned veteran in jbone. Congrates to you. So was this your first time amplified, and did you have an opportunity to rehearse on stage at all?
Ed

vbmark · Member

Hey jbone,

Thanks for the encouragement. It's good to hear that even long time players mess up sometimes. I don't feel so bad now.

My wife and son are on me now to play for people more. So I guess I don't have a choice now :smile:

Thanks

jbone · Veteran Member

hey vb, that's very cool! like the man said, don't keep that light under a bushel basket, let it shine!
i think we're all works in progress. after nearly 35 years of playing, 15 of them as a serious gigging musician, hundreds of jams, many different partners, hours of woodshedding, hundreds of harps, a dozen and more amps and mics and lots of acoustic work, i still flub here and there. out live anything can happen and sometimes does. i've learned that audiences are pretty forgiving if i'm in the right key and do most of what i do right.
my wife and i tried out at a pizza joint for a tip jar gig last evening, and you'd have thought i just fell off the turnip truck! i made some small booboos, but i have learned over the years to just carry on and get it done. our amplification was a surprise last evening in that we've gotten used to how it sounds at home and it sounded different last evening. still, we did what we do and at least a couple of people dug it! that's good odds out of 3 people!
every time we play is an opportunity to learn something. it's also a chance to hone our skills, and there is no better place than out live once we reach a point where we can get through a song or three.

i hope you catch fire and play out as often as you can. not only will it improve your overall skill level, you may win some fans!! my goal is always to reach as many people as i can, not with a tower of sound, but with some good chops and honest playing. for me that is why i do this. if i can break even, afford a new harp or mic or a sandwich and some gas, that's worth the effort.

always move forward!!

vbmark · Member

No, no one video taped it which I'm happy for because of the mistakes I made. What's funny is that everyone said I played perfectly.:confused:

I played a very bluesy Swing Low and Amazing Grace medley.

One person said to me, "I've never heard harmonica played like that before."

I'm hoping she meant it in a good way! LOL!

Harp Hack · Member

Congrats vb,
sounds very exciting. i can only imagine how nervous you were. i played for my brother-in-law over the holidays. he was the first adult i had ever played in front of, and i was a wreck, even after a couple cold ones. did anyone videotape it? what did you play?

vbmark · Member

Wow, was I nervous! But I got through it.

It was just a talent show for fun.

< - - - - At least I got a new avatar out of the deal :winner:

It was really cool hearing my harmonica over the amplification system reverberating through the place.

I might even try it again some day.

-- Edited by vbmark at 21:08, 2007-01-03